By Bonnie Culverhouse

United States Election Assistance Commission has recognized Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s office for excellence in election administration with a national Clearinghouse Award for Best Practices in Recruiting, Retaining and Training Poll Workers. The office also received an honorable mention award for their “I Voted” sticker.

Webster Parish Clerk of Court Holli Vining said she believes Louisiana has one of the best election systems in the country, from top to bottom.

“The awards we win for that system are always an honor and a sense of pride for those of us who work so hard to provide honest, accurate and fair elections to the public,” Vining said.

“This award and honorable mention are incredible honors that recognize the countless hours of hard work that go into administering Louisiana’s elections,” Landry said. “I am immensely proud of my staff for implementing this recruitment program to help alleviate our state’s poll worker shortage. Poll workers are an essential part of the election administration process, and we are always looking for innovative ways to recruit more citizens to serve their communities by working the polls.”

Election commissioners are vital to the democratic process, so recruiting and retaining those commissioners is a top priority, Vining pointed out.

“We faced some special challenges last year across the state with a shortage of commissioners prior to the Presidential election. Clerks across the state, along with the Secretary of State, have begun recruiting commissioners on social media, as well as some creative efforts, such as,  sending letters to school principals to distribute to teachers and visiting college campuses or job fairs,” Vining added. “The Legislature is currently considering legislation that would increase commissioner pay which, if it passes, would go a long way toward making sure we have enough commissioners.”

Webster Parish has not experienced commissioner shortages, as some parishes.

“It takes about 160 workers to man the polls on election day, and I like to have at least 30 more available in our commissioner pool to fill in for those who can’t work,” Vining said.    

Anyone interested in serving as a commissioner can view a training video and instructional pamphlet on my website and take the test electronically.

“Before big elections we have a pre-election meeting to refresh the commissioners on important procedures,” she said.    

Also known as the “Clearies,” the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) presents awards annually to celebrate the hard work of election offices across the country. Now in its ninth year, this year’s Clearie Awards honored programs that took place during the 2024 presidential election year. The EAC is an independent, bipartisan federal agency solely focused on election administration. Submissions were judged on innovation, sustainability, outreach, cost-effectiveness, replicability, and the generation of positive results.